Roadbed construction for toy railways



Dec. 2, 1930. c. R. PETERSON. JR

ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION FOR TOY RAILWAYS Filed Jan. y:50, 1930 2Sheets-sheet 1 Filed Jan. 30, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYPatented Dec. -2, 1930 PATENT OFFICE CLARENCE R. PETERSO'NyJR.,OF'PELHAM MANOR, NEW 'YORK ROADBED CONSTRUCTION FOB TOY BAILW'AYSApplication led January 30, 1930. Serial No. 424,582.

This invention relates to trackways for to railways, and moreparticularly to the roa bed thereof.

A common form 'of trackwa for toy7 raila ways is made `up of detacha lyconnected track sections, each of which consists of crossties and rails,with little or no attempt to imitate the cross ties and ballast ofstandard railway road-bed construction. The track 1o sections are formedof relatively light metal, and are often supported upon bare woodendoors, which results in noisy operation of the trains, as they passalong the trackway.

@ne object of the present invention is to it provide a road-bed whichmay be used with lthe above mentined type of toy railway trackways, andwhich presents a realistic imitation of standard railway road-bedconstruction.

Another object is to provide a road-bed for toy railway trackways whichwill act as a sound-deadening cushion therefor, whereby the noise ofoperation of a train over the trackway is practically eliminated.

Another object is to provide a device of the aforementioned type whichis so constructed as to be readily attachable to, and removable from toyrailway track sections of standard construction.

rfoy railway track sections take various forms such as straight, curvedswitches, cross-overs or the like, and it is a iurther object othe-present invention to provide a construction, the details of whichmay be modi- 35 fied to adapt it for use in connection with all types oftoy railway track sections. Therefore various changes ma be made in thedetails of construction wit out departing from the scope of myinvention.

With the above, and other objects in view, reference is had to theaccompanying drawin s, in which ig. l is a plan yview of a straight toyrailwa track section having attached thereto an imitation road-bedelement constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,y

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a erspective view illustrating one manner in w ich theimitation road-bed element may be applied to a straight track section,

F ig. 5 is a plan 1View of a cross-over track section showing animitation road-bed element applied thereto,

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view, on a reduced vscale showing animitation road-bed element especially adapted for use in connection witha cross-over track section, and

F ig. 7 is a plan view showing an imitation road-bed element especiallyadapted for use in 'connection with a switch track section.

ln the preferred embodiments of the invention, the imitation road-bedelement is formed from rubber or other resilient material. The elementis molded or otherwise formed into an envelope like structure adapted toreceive the track section, it being understood that the element isshaped to correspond to that section with which it is intended for use.

ln Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, there is shown a straight toy railway tracksection A which comprises two running rails 5, a current distributingrail 6 and cross-ties 7 of which there are generally three or more.

The imitation road-bed element B comprises two sheets or layers 10 and11, which are preferably connected by side and end walls 13 and 14,respectively, and it is so constructed that a space is provided betweenthe layers 10 and 11 for the reception of a track section, such as A.The under layer or member l0 constitutes a cushion base for the tracksection and the upper layer or member 11 serves to conceal cross-ties 7,but not the rails and has its exposed face ornamented in imitation ofstandard railway ties and road-bed ballast, which ornamentation ispreferably produced during the molding of the element.

To facilitate assembling the elements .A and B the member 11 ispreferably provided with slits or openings 17 through which the rails ofthe track section may protrude and these slits 17 divide the member 11into strip-like sections 18 and 19 connected to the lower layer at theirends. When the track section is of the electrical type which includestwo running rails and a third rail for supply of current, the imitationroad-bed element will be formed with three slits for the accommodationof the three rails. When, however, the device is employed in connectionwith railway track sections having but two rails, as in the case ofmechanically driven trains, the member 11 will have but two slits sincethere will be no third rail to the track sections. In this lastmentioned type, the exposed member 11 would be formed with but a singlestrip like member.

In t-he present embodimentof the invention, the side and end edges ofthe imitation road-bed element are closed, and then thus constructed, itmay be positioned upon a track section by lifting the two sect-ions 18and 19 and placing one end of the track section therebeneath asillustrated in Fig. 4. The imitation road-bed element is then pulledupon the track section until the inner end of the track section engagesthe inner face of the end wall 14 of the imitation roadbed element. Whenthus positioned, the road-bed element, due to its elasticity, may beslightly stretched lengthwise to permit of the movement of the other endof the track section thereinto beneath the sections 18 and 19 until thetrack section is in position within the imitation road-bed element withits rails protruding through the slits 17.

It will be understood that an imitation road-bed element is employed inconnection with each track section, and that when the track sections areinterchanged or joined together, the adjacent ends of the rails may beconnected and the adjacent ends of the imitation road-bed sections willabut and form a continuous road-bed in imitation of standard railwayties and ballast.

In Figs. 5 and 6, there is illustrated an imitation road-bed elementespecially adapted for use in connection with cross-over track sections.secting sections of track, C and D, which are generally secured by meansof a` plate or the like 30 having side flanges 31, which engage thecorresponding bases of the rail of the two intersecting sections.

The imitation road-bed member E adapted for use with such a cross-overcomprises top and bottom members 32 and 33 respectively. The cross-overis supported upon the bottom member 33, which forms a cushion basetherefor. The upper member is provided with an open rectangular space 34for the reception of the plate of the crossover and a plurality oftongues or strip-like members 36 separated by slits 35 and having theirinner ends free and terminating at the opening 34. In this form of theinvention, the cross-over is positioned in the imii lation road-bedelement merely by lifting A cross-over consists of two interthe freeinner ends of the tongue-like strips 36 and inserting the cross-over inthe center yspace and laying the strips back in place so that the railsproject up through the slits.

It is to be understood that the exposed surface of the upper layer ormember 32 will be ornamented or molded in imitation of railway trackties and ballast as in the heretofore described form of the inventionand of such dimension as to render it readily adaptable for use incombination with the other sections of imitation road-bed section.

Fig. 7 illustrates an imitation road-bed element applied to a section oftoy railway track known as a switch section. A switch section comprisesa straight section having rails 50, and a curved section having rails51, which lead into the straight section. Switch points 53 and 54 areemployed by means of which trains maybe shunted from the straightsection to the curved section. These switch points are connectedpreferably by a link 55 with a SoU-called switch stand 56, which may beoperated by a hand lever -57 or by other 'electrical' or mechanicalmeans.

The imitation road-bed element for the switch consists'oftwo members orlayers as in the heretofore described forms of the invention, the uppermember 58 being ornamented in imitation of railway road-bed ballast. Ithas a main body portion 59 for the straight section of track, anextension 60, for the accommodation of the switch stand 56, and a curvedextension 61 accommodating the curved track section, which leads intothe straight track section. The upper member 'is provided with aplurality of slits between these parts for the reception of the various`rails, somewhat after the manner illustrated nin Fig. 6. That is, theslits are so arranged and formed as to provide tongue-like members orstrips which are adapted to be forced downwardly into engagement withthe fianges of the bases of the rails.

The extension 60 has an opening 63 to receive the switch stand 66, andof suicient size to permit the necessary reciprocating movement of theswitch stand 56, and the main body portion has openings 64 to provideample space for movement of the switch points 53 and 54.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that the present inventionprovides a base for attachment to Ordinar track sections of toy rails,and which constitutes a realistic imitation of cross-ties and ballast ofordinary railway construction.

It will be understood that to railway sections are made of various dierent widths and that there are various other shapes and kinds ofsections. Each size and kind may have an appropriately formed imitationroadbed adapted for detachable connection thereto.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An imitation road-bed for toy railway track sections comprisin twoImembers adapted to receive a toy rai way track section therebetween,one of said members having slits through which the rails of a tracksection may protrude, the other member forming a -cushion for said tracksection. t

2. An imitation road-bed for toy railway track sections comprising twomembers integrally connected together and ada ted to receive a toyrailway track section t erebetween, one of said members having slitsthrough which the rails of a track section may protrude, the othermember forming a cushion for said track section.

3. An imitation road-bed for toy railway tracks, comprising an envelopelike element adapted to removably receive a toy railway track sectionand having one of its exposed faces ornamented in imitation of a'railwayroad-bed, and formed with openings throu h which the rails ofthe tracksection protru e.

4. An imitation road-bed for toy railway tracks, comprising an envelopelike elementJ of stretchable material adapted to receive a toy railwaytrack section and having one of its exposed faces formed in imitation ofthe surface of a railwa road-bed, said face having slits therein t roughwhich the rails of the track section protrude.

l 5. An imitation road-bed for toy railway track sections, comprising anenvelope like element adapted to receive a toy railway track section,said member having its exposed face ornamented in imitation of railwaytrackties and ballast. v

(i. An imitation road-bed for toy railway track sections, comprising aremovable envelope like element adapted to receive a toy railway tracksection, said member havin its exposed face ornamented in imitation orailway track ties and ballast, and havin a plurality of slits oropenings through which the rails of a track section ma protrude.

7. An imitation road-bed or toy railway track sections, comprisin a baselayer, and a cover layer between whic a toy railway track section isretained, said cover layer being `formed of stretchable material andslit,

whereby to track section layer.

8. An imitation road-bed track sections, com rising a base member, and acover member etween which a toy railway track section is retained, saidcover member being formed Aof stretchable materiai molded in imitationof a road-bed and slit to permit of introduction of the track sectionbetween the members.

9. A road-bed constructiontfor to railway track sections including a airo sheets of rubber, one of said sheets a apted to pJermit ofintroduction of the etween the cover and the base for toy railway posedbetween and along said derlie the track section, and the other includingstrips disposed between the rails of the track section, said up r sheethaving its upper surface molded 1n imitation of crossties and ballast.

10. In combination a railway track section including a pair of rails anda plurality of connecting metal cross-ties, and a road bed constructiondetachable therefrom and including a pair of sheets of flexiblenon-metallic material, one adapted to lie beneath said cross-ties, andthe other having portions disralls and overlying said cross-ties, saidupper sheet havin its upper surface molded 1n imitation o cross-ties andballast.

11. An imitation road-bed ada ted for use in connection with a separatean detachable toy railway section which has rails and cross ties, saidroad-bed including a base layer constructed of rubber compositionadapted to support said cross ties, said layer having parts integraltherewith adapted to overlap said cross ties for yieldingly resistin butpermitting separation of the roadbe and track sections and preventingrelative lateral movement.

12. An imitation road-bed ada ted for use in connection with a se arateandD detachable toy railway section which has rails and cross ties, saidroad-bed including a base layer constructed of rubber composition andadapted to support said cross ties, said layer having integral angesdisposed in abutting enga ement with the ends of the cross ties for oding said track sections against lateral movement with respect to saidlayer but permittin ready separation of said road-bed and sai tracksections.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State `of New York this29th-day of Janna A. D. 1980.

lARENOE R. PETERSON, JR.

